Midweek Bible Study | 1 Timothy 3 | Gary Hamrick

first Timothy chapter three is where we are so take your Bibles and go with me if you would please to first Timothy chapter three we have some Bibles available for you if you need one as the ushers come down the aisles just raise a hand in their direction first Timothy three in those church Bibles this page 839 page 839 while you're finding your way there to first Timothy chapter 3 let me just give a quick recap to bring us up to speed and then we will read a little bit from chapter three and pray but first Timothy second tivity in the book of Titus or what we call pastoral epistles they are instructions given to pastors in these cases Timothy and Titus about how the church should conduct itself an important principles about what the church looks like and how people within the church should live their lives and in very practical ways and so there's doctrine here there is a great truths here for us to understand as a local church God's Word is timeless and so these principles are timeless and God's truth is timeless and so as we look here into first Timothy so far what we've looked at are things that should define the church and out of the first two chapters here the first three points the church should be defined as a place of sound doctrine back in chapter 1 verse 10 he talks about refuting those who teach what is contrary to sound doctrine and instead we should be teaching what conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed of God which Paul says that he entrusted to me then it should also be a place of grace in chapter 1 verse 13 Paul talks about how he previously before he came to know Christ was a blasphemer a persecutor a violent man he says but I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief so as we come to the house of God it should be a place where we find mercy also that our lives could also have a long list of what identifies us like Paul gave us a short list for himself and yet we can find mercy and we can be forgiven and we can experience God's grace in our own lives and then into chapter 2 we talked about how he begins chapter two by aging us then to make request prayers and intercession and with Thanksgiving for everyone and then he especially highlights in verse 2 for kings and all those in authority that we might live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness so God's house little show should also be a place of prayer for everyone but especially for leaders and then into chapter three we started last week where we talked about the importance number four of godly elders and deacons and in the first part of chapter three verses 1 through 7 it deals with elders and the Greek word for elders is episkopos some of your Bibles might refer to the word elder as overseers mine does an NIV overseer or bishop but it's the Greek word episkopos we get our English word Episcopal or Episcopalian from that Greek word and it is basically one who looks at or looks over something intently that is the church the responsibility of an elder / pastor we mentioned last week how every pastor is an elder not every elder is a pastor but the responsibility of elders and pastors is to look intently over the church to make sure that it is functioning well to make sure that it is healthy to make sure that's on track to make sure it's it's all about sound doctrine and prayer and a place of grace and the other things we're gonna mention on our list here and so Paul then gives qualifications what are the traits for elders first seven verses of chapter three and then starting in verse eight he talks about qualifications for deacons which we'll get to as well now out of the first seven verses of chapter three we mentioned last week there are 15 qualifications for an elder now there are twelve more in the book of Titus for a total of 27 but just looking at these 15 here we mentioned last week that 14 out of 15 are character traits one is a gifting and that is the gift of teaching which we'll talk about a little bit when we read the list again here but we made through we made our way through five out of the fifteen last week so I'm gonna read verses one through seven we'll pray then we'll come back and summarize those first five that we covered last week and then we'll press on to the rest of the qualifications so here we go chapter 3 verse 1 Paul writes to young Timothy here is a trustworthy saying if anyone sets his heart on being an overseer there's that Greek word episkopos also translated bishop he desires a noble task now the overseer the elder must be above reproach the husband of but one wife temperate self-controlled respectable hospitable able to teach not given to drunkenness not violent but gentle not quarrelsome not a lover of money he must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect if anyone does not know how to manage his own family how can he take care of God's church he must not be a recent convert or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil and he must also have a good reputation with outsiders so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap so let's pause there and pray and then we'll dig out these verses Lord we thank you now as we open up your word for this time that we can draw near to you as we study Scripture together we pray that you would bear witness to our hearts about these things that we would learn what you have to say to us as a local church that we would take to heart these things this this pastoral epistle written from your heart through the pen of paul to timothy as a pastor and no doubt lord to us here as well so guide us through these verses we pray giving us wisdom and helping us Lord to apply these things to our lives into our own church we thank you together in Jesus name and everyone said amen so last week we made our way through the first five out of the 15 and I'm just going to rattle through this real quickly if you want to get all the details you can go back last week and listen on the archives of the teaching library number one is above reproach meaning that an elder slash pastor needs to be free from handle that no man is perfect but but someone about whom no credible charge or accusation can stick so has to be above reproach number two to be the husband of one wife again Paul is writing during a time of polygamy during the Roman Empire so this is stressing the fact that a pastor an elder needs to be a one-woman man committed to one woman that he's married to now this does not mean as I mentioned last week that a pastor cannot serve unless he's married like like marriage is necessity that just simply means if a pastor is married that he should be committed to that wife but this does not exclude single men by the way this doesn't exclude divorced men provided that the divorce may have happened previously under biblical reasons and/or happened before he got saved because then then all of that's under the blood anyway so but this is emphasizing be committed to your wife if you're married be that that one woman man and this is speaking against polygamy of its day number three to be temperate the ESV says sober-minded this is not talking about alcohol we'll get into that tonight but more about attitude judgment that a pastor needs to be circumspect in his responsibilities clear-headed moderate not living in the extremes but temperate number four self-controlled that is to say that he needs to be you know governing his passions and appetites again as you read this list of these 15 qualifications you'll you'll notice that even in general as Christians we should be living according to this standard you know doesn't if you're not an elder or a pastor it doesn't mean you get to violate these things you know well these are only for pastors and elders you know we should be living these these kind of qualifications as Christians in general but specifically pastors and elders are held to this standard obviously self-controlled is one of those that would apply to all of us like like the rest of this list self-control is one of the one of fruit of the Spirit and then number five to be respectable meaning to be polite to be courteous which is not always easy and to be a man of honor all right so that's the first five that we went through last week now let's take a look at the next five on the list number six through ten we have here in the first seven verses number six is hospitable number seven is able to teach number eight is not given to drunkenness number nine not violent but gentle and number ten not quarrelsome now you'll notice with me that some of these are pretty self-explanatory mean I you know I don't need to go into extra detail and explain these things and you know break down the Greek for you okay I mean this some of these things just there's pretty self-explanatory and standalone hospitable is one of those I mean you know all Paul is saying here is that someone who's serving as a pastor or an elder here is to be warm is to be friendly it needs to you know welcome people and and into your home to or just to be sociable to be to be you know considered of others so some people have the gift of hospitality Hospitality's listed actually as a spiritual gift and some people have that as a gift that you know there are some gifts of the Spirit and then there are some disciplines of the Spirit in other words some people just you know they thrive in certain giftings that come very naturally but but you know you can't as a pastor or elder say well you know I don't have the gift of hospitality yeah yeah it you still have to show yourself friendly and be welcoming and to be warm and to be hospitable number seven able to teach now again as I mentioned last week this is the one and I and I reiterated today this is this is one of the 15 that is really in the category of giftings while the rest of this list is more about character traits that said even though it says here that a pastor needs to be one who was able to teach or an elder in general one was able to teach we mentioned last week from chapter 5 of 1st Timothy and verse 17 that it talks about how the elders who direct the affairs of the church are worthy of double honor especially those whose work is preaching and teaching so Paul distinguishes right here in this letter first Timothy in chapter 5 between administrative elders and pastor teacher elders so again not every elder is called as a pastor there are some administrative elders and then there are pastor elders who are called to teach but even if one serves as an elder who's more administrative and not pastoral even that administrative elder has to be able to teach in the sense of the meaning literally is one who was able to rightly divide the truth one was able to lay down doctrine because their safety you see in the multitude of counselors and when one of the biggest problems facing the church over the centuries not just today but it's true today but over the centuries is is false teaching and is it's a slow departure and some of it is is so slow and so little that it almost goes undetectable which is why it's important that you have elders in a church that can spot false doctrine and can hold pastors accountable I mentioned last week that you know there's a group of elders around me to make sure that I'm not going to go astray teaching false doctrine and that's when you know my friend Dan was like amen and I know I did I know I didn't mean like kick me out but you know specifically but but that that's the safety net that a church needs to have because if a pastor starts veering to the left or right and gets off track related to the truth of Scripture that church is in danger because then the people that the sheep of the church are going to be led astray by false teaching and it can happen oh so suddenly oh so subtly you know there's a rule of flying it's the sixty to one rule those of you who are pilots you know the deal that that if you are one degree off on your instrument flying if you're one degree off from point A to point B after 60 miles you'll be one mile off target just one degree so if you fly from New York to LA and you're just one degree off by the time you get to LA you will overshoot the airport 45 miles just one degree and that's that's the challenge of making sure that what comes from a pulpit and you know and listen exercise discernment when you're watching TV preachers too because because there can be some error that's wrapped in some truth and if you don't have the dexterity to separate the error from the truth you're liable to believe the whole thing that to your disadvantage now you know every pastor is gonna have to stand before the Lord that's why James 3:1 says not many of you should presume to be teachers my brothers because those who teach would be held more accountable that literally in the Greek will be judged more strictly so every pastor at every TV preacher is going to be accountable but just as a warning to all of you who sit under my teaching or listen to any TV preacher or go to some other church you had better be wise and discerning I love what how Paul commended the the church at Berea in Acts chapter 17 verse 11 he said comparing the Church of Berea to the church at Thessalonica he said the Bereans were of more noble character though this was said Paul didn't say it in Acts chapter 17 Luke's writing he said the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians because they searched the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true that's what you need to be doing you need to do that related to what you hear from me you need to do that we're related to what you hear from every TV preacher you need to do that related every Christian book you read you need to be discerning of what the truth is and the only way you're going to know the truth is if you read God's Word for yourself and so you you have to get yourself into God's Word so you can be equipped in your faith that you can know the truth from what is a falsehood or what is a lie or what is deception or what is a distortion and and again it happens so suddenly so a pastor has to be able to teach there's to be a gift of teaching you know to be able to get up and present God's Word but even those elders who are not pastors have to be able to teach in the sense of knowing right doctrine to be able to hold the pastor accountable for the protection of the flock and and so this is a very important thing it's a very critical thing that's why every single one of you you know read your Bibles understand for yourself you know that you don't you don't have to you know be there doesn't need to be a middleman all I'm trying to do is Express God's Word according to how he reveals it but you don't you don't need me I mean you you have brains and hearts in the Spirit of God to yourself that you can read and you can discern you can understand and and it's important that you do that you know I I hear people from time to time they'll come to Cornerstone they'll be like you know what you know no one's ever explained this to me before particularly those of you from the Catholic tradition okay you know up into the 1960s though the the mass the Catholic Mass was in Latin you couldn't even know what the priest was saying was true or not if you didn't know Latin so you know there has to be this equipping of the Saints which is you you know learning and growing in your faith not just because you're hearing me teach but because you yourselves are applying God's Word to your own hearts and lives and you're getting into Scripture and you're searching Scripture daily to see of what I say or any TV preacher any Christian book is true just like the Bereans did in acts 17 verse 11 checking what Paul said making sure everything Paul said lined up with with the Old Testament Scriptures he wasn't violent anything with what he was saying so able to teach understand doctrine recognize what is what is true number eight on this list is not given to drunkenness now this gets a little a little controversial in in different churches so I'm going to tell you where I come down on this verse and and you know our stance here at Cornerstone this will not be universal but this is a matter of you know some interpretation now if you've been a Christian long enough you understand that when you read the whole Council of Scripture there's there's not a prohibition against drinking the prohibition is against drunkenness and I've said this many times you know when we've come to one of the beauties are going through the Bible cover-to-cover is we're gonna hit every hot topic okay and so some you know some of you love your alcohol and so you know and and at moments like this when we talk about alcohol and drunkenness you know I've always maintained that the that for the Christian even though you know that drunkenness is the sin the challenge becomes at what point are you buzzed you know 0.01 0.02 at what at you know what's your blood alcohol kind it start splitting hairs between you know when when am i a little intoxicated and when I'm just dropped down drunk you know it well pastor G is it is is it okay to have you know a beer with pizza' but as long as I you know can hold my own and I don't stagger out of the restaurant yeah I mean at what point are you splitting hairs okay so here here's here's what's important understand about what Paul is saying here to pastors okay this is this is the pastor's this is the elders all right when he says here not given to drunkenness there in verse 3 it is the Greek word platter on those pyranose is from two Greek words para meaning near or with or alongside and I know smeeting why so it is literally saying here in the Greek not near wine pottery knows it's it's interesting that when you look in the Old Testament when the priesthood was first established the first high priest of the Old Testament was Aaron the brother of Moses and his sons then became the first priests and that Levitical line that ironic priesthood it went through the line of Aaron and and you know they and they were the Levites you know that the the descendants of Levi Aaron was of the tribe of Levi and so the priests were the the tribe of Levi and you could only be a priest if you rub the tribe of Levi because you had good genes anyway that's kind of a Levite joke alright anyway wake up there's only one time that God spoke to Aaron and his sons only one time verbally recorded in scripture where God spoke to Aaron and his sons and it's in Leviticus 10 8 9 and this is when God spoke to them then the Lord said to Aaron you and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting or you will die this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come okay so God had an opinion about alcohol and fermented drink among those who were serving in the house of God you say well that that's Old Testament okay so New Testament is Ephesians 5:18 now this exhortation is for all of us it says be not drunk with wine wherein is excess but be filled with the holy spirit the question for pastors becomes who or what do you want to control you do you want alcohol to control you because there's the potential for alcohol to be addicting and controlling or do you want the Holy Spirit to control you you also need to take into consideration as a pastor Romans 14 21 which says it is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that will cause someone else a brother to fall to stumble so for me as it relates to pastors I believe that pastors are called to a different standard than the rest of y'all and that is that when when I pieced together different verses and to me when I when I just even meditate on pyranose near wine we're not to be near it what it says to me is that the possibility of alcohol doing more harm than good for pastors with the potential to impair a leaders judgment or do to contribute to an addiction or to cause others to stumble and for that reason at Cornerstone pastors and elders voluntarily abstain especially because it could cause other people to stumble some of you would have no problem you know I've been to different places and and been offered plenty of alcohol over the years and then I have to explain you know it's okay for you as long as it's in moderation and it's not drunkenness but for me I believe that there's a different but there's a different standard here and um you know and some of you might be oh you know you poor thing well Jesus said in Matthew 26 I think is verse 29 he it was at the Last Supper II says I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until I drink it anew with you and my father's kingdom so on that day man I'm gonna that's what's happening but otherwise I just think I just think it's it's a danger and it's prudent now I know a lot of people like to point and later in this letter even in chapter 5 verse 23 Paul's gonna say to Timothy would take a little wine for your stomach or your many ailments so if you're sick or dying then okay but otherwise you know for for all of us I think there needs to be great caution I mean you know we know the statistics right I mean alcohol has done a lot of damage and I've said this many times but no one's ever come into my office and told me the wonderful benefits of what alcohol is done in their lives I only hear the the the bad stories how I lost my job how I ended up cheating on my spouse how you know I had a car accident and I killed somebody I mean I mean truly tragic stories so for pastors I just think to be an example and and to be careful in this area and not to be given to something that could be addicting or could contribute to impairing our abilities to lead that we need to be more focused on being under the control of the Holy Spirit rather than other spirits small s and and that we need to be careful especially in this because it could cause others to stumble so I will tell you that there are there are other churches who will disagree with this on you know I know pastors who drink and drink freely with their congregation members and my conviction is just different and they you know they will interpret this in the way that they do but I've explained to you why we interpret it this way and why I just think it's more prudent and it's more beneficial in the ministry that we just avoid this as as pastors and elders all right so let's go on now number 9 not vine up but gentle I mean that's one of those what does that need much more explanation than that I mean you know don't be you know don't be beating people up you know and don't be you know I mean if I were a rebel rouser and you know you were reading about me in the newspaper like you know I got into another fight downtown Leesburg you know outside of shenanigans because I can't go inside yeah you'd be like what kind of a pastor is this you know he's he's always getting into fist fights and stuff so you know not violent but gentle not quarrelsome you know even in 2nd Timothy 2:24 Paul's gonna write he says in the Lord's servant speaking about pastors and elders the Lord's Lord's servant must not quarrel instead he must be kind to everyone so you try that for a day anyway numbers 11 through 15 not a lover of money manages his own family well sees that his children obey Him not a recent convert has a good reputation with outsiders so number 11 not a lover of money there are three main vices that bring pastors down its power money and sex all all too often we know too many tragic stories about some pastor who you know just got way way too big in his head and power went to his head and authority went to his head and then you know he ends up disqualifying himself or he's had an affair or you know done something immoral and and or money mismanagement of money hoarding money stealing money and so this is one of those three issues here not a lover of money now again you know all of us should should take heed you know none of us should be greedy none of us should be covetous none of us should love money money makes a wonderful servant but it is a terrible master it's a terrible master you know if you if you are you know under the control of money it's terrible if you use money as just you know a tool that you can be generous you can bless you can pay your bills you can be responsible you can you know use money to buy things and as long as you're not getting into debt you're not loving it you're not craving it you know it's not covetous then it makes a wonderful servant but it's a terrible master and pastors and elders are particularly warned here not to love money not to be greedy or covetous not to live beyond your means not to live extract extravagant lifestyles I mean you know this this is my opinion talking here but we're not when I see some some TV preachers or TV evangelists you know living in 7,000 square foot homes and you know you know driving you know really expensive sports cars and you know having a having their own Cessna you know I I just I think it's it's just it's a black eye on the body of Christ I don't think it speaks well I don't think it reflects well because it it shows you know there's this materialistic obsession and and I think that there's this caution here I you know basically wherever this is just in general I think a general principle that I think is good you know for pastors in general you know don't live above or below the median of the congregation you're ministering to you know that's that's just that's just good common sense it's you know you shouldn't be a lover of money you you know especially because you know pastors and elders in particular need need to be good stewards of their own finances and resources otherwise how can they be good stewards of God's money at God's house and so if you're a lover of money then you won't be a good manager of money because jesus said in matthew 6:24 that you can't you know serve God and money so if you love money you're going to serve money if you love God you're going to serve God but you can't you can't love and serve both even the later here in chapter 6 verse 10 he's going to say for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs he's gonna say later here in chapter 6 that some people with such an obsession and love and and hunger for money and just you know to make a lot of money that it's actually damaged their relationship with the Lord some of have wandered from the faith he says there in first Timothy 6:10 now some people misquote force Timothy 6:10 for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil it's the love of money and it's a root but it's not money itself money itself is not evil money itself is not bad and if you know if you're in a position where God has blessed you and you're very successful and you have a lot of it you as a Christian that just gives you more opportunity to to be generous so because the love of money the the way you break the love of money is to be generous be and and the more you're generous with what God has given you then it resists that temptation in all of us to love it okay so money itself is not evil but loving it can be a root of of evil all kinds of evil now number 12 and number 13 on this list really go together manages his own family well and sees that his children obey Him let me just talk about this a little bit now you know Terry and I have our three kids are grown they're out of the house they're all three married now and and so you know let me just talk about sort of in the past since they're out of our home at this point never never in my pastoral ministry did I tell my kids that they better behave because dad is a pastor I never wanted to throw that guilt trip on them now I knew I knew in my own heart that if they ever went off the rails and every kid can have you know a little season of rebellion but but pastors this is again one of these qualifications that is no small thing and and so every child can have their moments can have a little season but if if your child goes off the rails you know and as a pastor I knew in my heart it could disqualify me but I didn't want to lay that guilt trip on them because then they would be in a performance-oriented mode constantly well I got to always do what is right because you know I don't want dad to lose his job and so I better I better not misbehave and so you know I don't want dad to lose his job so so therefore you know I never approached it like that you know and Terry didn't either we didn't we didn't want to come to our kids and say you got it we never sat him down and said yeah you you better you better walk the straight and narrow and read your Bibles and quote your verses because you're preachers kids and if you ever do anything bad I could lose my job that that kind of things destroyed a lot of preachers kids I know some of them they've walked away from the church walked away from the Lord and and it's tragic and and yet Paul's writing here to young Timothy saying you as a pastor yet to manage your own family well you have to see that your children obey you and and he adds there in verse five it's a parenthetical comment but in verse five if anyone does not know how to manage his own family how can he take care of God's church so so while this was something I was very well aware of as my kids were younger I never wanted to you know use this to beat them with right you know like you know do you know read this first you know and you know better than understand what's going on so you know for Terry and me our desire was we're just we're gonna we're gonna raise them the best we can in the ways of the Lord we're gonna trust the Lord that's what we're gonna do we're gonna raise them in the ways of the Lord and we're gonna trust the Lord I never wanted my kids to think that church was more important than they never one of my wife to feel that way either I can't say that I was always perfect in that regard you know there were times were I'm sure that was not imbalance but but my heart's desire was I never wanted my kids to think and you know no offense to any of you but my family is more important than any of you okay and here's the reason why because my marriage and my kids for every pastor needs to be their first ministry every pastor's first ministry is his his wife and his kids because if you lose your family you lose your ministry I mean ultimately if you lose your family you lose your ministry so it was important to me to invest in my kids lives and you know Terry with me but I'm just talking now pastoral II never missed their ballgames never missed their practices I think there was one ballgame I missed the Austin play because it was a rain up makeup on a Wednesday night when I when I taught but otherwise I just wanted to make sure that that my kids knew and my wife knows but talking about children in this context family and children that they knew I loved Jesus my kids knew I loved their mom and I loved them and the church was further down the list and and so that they would grow up loving Jesus and loving the church and not resenting either and that was important to me it still is important to me and so you know Terry and I are our prayer this is our one prayer was we just want our kids to grow up and love Jesus I mean I was just offered we just want our kids to grow up and love Jesus and you know to God be the glory that both our boys are pastors in ministry with us here and our daughter helps to manage my schedule and and it was it was one of those things where that was just like by the grace of God icing on the cake we just wanted to love Jesus for them to love Jesus and love you all in love cornerstone and want to serve here has been I can't tell you just the greatest blessing to me and Terry that our kids love the Lord and love you now I know and I just want to say this because I think it's worth mentioning at this point I know that some people are on are uneasy with family members being on staff at a church and I do understand that and I and I I do want to say that in any situation like that it should be monitored carefully with some checks and balances and there should never be any favoritism but I will also tell you that had my kids ended up rebellious in jail pregnant in rehab the same people who were uneasy about pastors kids being on staff would be the same ones to run me out of the church if they ended up in those conditions and I'm just thankful that you as a flock you as a congregation have loved and embraced our kids I can tell you when Terry will be the first to say with me we we didn't know any better than any of you how to be good parents other than you pray a lot and you love your kids a lot and it's by the grace of God because I don't want anybody going on any guilt trip leaving here tonight because well my kids didn't go in the ministry and my kids you know and my kids aren't even walking to Jesus and what did I do wrong and aren't you special it's it's totally by the grace of God and you can do the best you can and still your kids go off the rail and you can pray the most you can and still your kids have challenges so we don't take any credit but we're just thankful for what God has done in their lives and that that they love Jesus and love you such that I wasn't disqualified you know now they're out of the house so yeah yeah and that's important to say too because you know some people interpret this passage to mean forever you know as long as your kids are your kids which your kids are always your kids you know then you're still bound and obligated but the reality is it's speaking here about a pastor an elder whose kids are in the home and still under your your home under under you know the authority of your household once they get married and they're out you know this this doesn't qualify but you know that's I think that's worth mentioning too so anyway my sons are fifth-generation pastors in my family and I can tell you that they struggled with cult their calling in in the ministry I struggle with calling in the ministry but my great-grandfather their great-great grandfather was a circuit writer preacher on horseback through the hills of West Virginia and and so you know but it's but that's a double-edged sword because you know so my great-grandfather my grandfather my uncle not my dad but that generation my Uncas brother myself and then my boys the double-edged sword is when you see a string of pastors in your family you also think well and my boys had the same struggle they came to me independently maybe I you know am I just going in the ministry because that's the kind of thing that we do in our family you know what is a calling am I only doing it because that's what the author meant did in our family and so that's a double-edged sword because you don't you don't want to do something just because other people did it in your and your family and my boys would say that about their calling relative to me they don't want to do it just because dad's a pastor you know they struggle with this they came to me weeping and just express their hearts desire to serve the Lord and and so I'm just thankful and grateful and appreciate your love and the way that you've embraced my family and and loved on us and taking care of us over the years it helps to be able to manage your family well and it helps to see that your children who obey you when they're younger when you have a flock like like you all who are loving and generous and caring so I appreciate you in that regard very much let me breeze through the last two here number 14 not a recent convert there's no time requirement between when a man gets saved and when he can go into the ministry but he adds here not a recent convert why or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil and there's this you know young and your faith you haven't really been tested you haven't really been tried and so rather than you know be all full of yourself in your early years as a Christian you know he says wait wait on appointing an elder or a pastor until they've they've been a Christian for a little while so I I don't have a number there's not a hard fast number on this for me personally I'd probably say no less than five years should someone be a believer before before he steps into pastoral ministry number 15 is a good reputation with outsiders meaning to be respected by non-believers not just to be respected within the church but outside the church that that's a little difficult sometimes because jesus said in Luke 6:26 woe to you when all men speak well of you so you know if everybody is you know loving you and you have a good reputation with everybody then maybe you're not always doing your job but to the degree that you're not causing any bad reputation you should have a good one with your outside friends as well let me let me see if I can make it through the rest of this chapter real quickly look at verse eight I don't have a list for the Deacons but it shifts now to deacons and the back to our number four godly elders and deacons the Greek word here is diaconis it's where we get our English word Deacon or Deaconess this is a minister or servant that's what the Greek word means in the church starting at verse eight you'll notice there are qualifications here of four deacons now very very similar to elders only a few differences so I don't need to spend a lot of time breaking these down because I just did since they're so similar to the qualifications for elders but look at verse eight deacons diagnosed likewise are to be men worthy of respect sincere now if you have an ESV or new King James it says not double-tongued the the word sincere there in the Greek is dye logos meaning not saying two different things so be sincere in words is basically the context they're not indulging in much wine now this is interesting it's a different term the elders are not patter patter only noise not to be near wine the Deacons not indulging in too much so like you know deacons can be two sheets to the wind you know just not three there's not a prohibition there for deacons you can have a little bit not pursuing dishonest gain that good old King James says filthy lucre so this is dishonest gain talking about money again not the love of money verse nine they must hold they must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith of a clear conscience they must first be tested and then if there is nothing against them let them serve as deacons again very similar to shouldn't be recent converts make sure they're tested a little bit verse 11 in the same way their wives now the Greek word here for wives is diagnosed again the word is not feminine or masculine its neuter in the Greek so it means that you it could translate the wives of Deacons but it could also translate Deaconess as in a woman who serves as a deacon this a deacon is not in a leadership capacity in the local church the first time you see deacons is in Acts chapter 6 the Grecian Jews complained to the Hebraic Jews that their widows the Greek widows were getting overlooked in the daily distribution of food the the Greek is that the daily ministration of food diagnoses back in Acts chapter 6 it's the same word and so the Apostles got together and they said well we can't neglect prayer and the Ministry of the word to wait on tables so they raised up deacons in the list of the first deacons is in Acts chapter 6 and the list of all of the original deacons in Acts chapter 6 were men originally and by the way they all had Greek names showing that the Greek Jews complained and the Greek Jews got the responsibility okay they were originally all men but in Romans chapter 16 verse 1 Paul commends a woman named Phoebe because she is a minister or a servant of the gospel with us and that word minister or servant is died a kronos so we see that women end up be serving in the role of deacons or deacon so back here in first Timothy chapter 3 this could either mean the wife of a deacon or could mean a woman who serves as a deacon because deacons in the early church and still here in our church are men and women who were late servants lay ministers they're not they're not pastors they don't have leadership authority but they are part of a structure we have some great deacons we call them our care team these are men and women who serve the body of Christ who serve you they help the pastor's in ministry and and but we're sensitive and when we tell our care team members and they know this that man deacons minister only two men female deacons only minister to women and as married couples they minister together to other married couples so we're very gender sensitive so that you know you don't start getting you know crossing lines there they're inappropriate but they're just part of the body of Christ to help minister to help pray with you you might get you know when we have the prayer time you have some deacons down front here some of our care team members they might go to the hospital to visit you they're just part of that lay ministry they're very valuable and you know a wonderful part of our fellowship and and so they the reference here again might be women or wives who are deacons there to be women worthy of respect not malicious talkers this is verse 11 but temperate and trustworthy in everything a deacon must be the husband about one wife again very similar two elders must manage his children his household well very similar those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus and then he writes here in verse 30 14 which is like the key verse for the whole letter although I hope to come to you soon I'm writing you these instructions so that verse 15 if I am delayed you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household which is the Church of the Living God the pillar and foundation of the truth okay the word church there it's ekklesia in the Greek it means the called out ones were called out from the world but were to go back into the world so God's people are not a building where the church were the called out ones to come together to assemble together to worship Him and where the Church of the Living God we serve a living God right okay Muhammad is dead confucius is dead Buddha is dead Gandhi is dead Jesus is alive all right we serve a living God where the Church of the Living God all right different from all of their world religions and we're to be the church is to be the pillar and foundation of the truth what does a pillar do it support something the church should always be holding up truth should be elevating truth and the foundation of the truth we should be built on the truth okay is all you know all of this question these days about what is truth and it's no different from Jesus day when Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate just before Jesus was crucified Jesus said to Pilate everyone on the side of truth listens to me and Pontius Pilate asked Jesus quit I swear it toss what is truth that's been that question down through the ages okay well the church is to be a representation of the truth because we are to be rightly dividing the word of truth which is the source of truth it's Scripture okay CNN isn't going to give you the truth and for that matter Fox News in you give you the truth all the time okay it's the Bible it's the Word of God and that and the church needs to be holding up the truth and being built on the truth and he finishes this chapter by saying beyond all question the mystery of godliness is great he referring to Jesus appeared in a body that's the Incarnation when God became flesh and dwelt among us he was vindicated by the Spirit in other words he was declared right his ministry was declared legitimate by the Spirit of God at his baptism the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove Jesus was seen by angels angels ministered to Jesus in the wilderness and Mark chapter 113 and when he was in the garden before his crucifixion angels came and ministered to him Luke 22 43 he was preached among the nations here we are today still talking about him preaching him he was believed on in the world and he was taken up in glory he ascended back into heaven and he's coming again so read ahead next week again is July 4th we won't have Wednesday night Church but two weeks from tonight we'll pick it up there in chapter 4 and here's where I'm why I encourage you read ahead in chapter 4 he's gonna talk about some end times apostasy he talks about how there will be a falling away from the faith in the end times we're gonna talk a little bit about that the end times two weeks from tonight well let's pray first father we thank you for this time in your word and Lord as we just consider these verses we read I pray that not only me as a pastor and other pastors and elders here but all of us would take to heart these qualifications that we would aspire to live up to these things Lord that we would live honourable lives above reproach that we would be temperate that we would not be given to drunkenness that we would manage our own families well that we would not love money all these things Lord we take to heart and especially as pastors and elders so help us lord help us we pray to live our lives in such a way that it brings glory and honor to you that that we would not do things that would bring a reproach to your name or to your church Lord but we would let our light so shine before men that they would see our good deeds and glorify our Father which is in heaven we praise you together in Jesus name and everybody said amen

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 2,769

Rating: 4.8400002 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Cornerstone Chapel

Id: j7Tp9H3LaXw

Length: 50min 39sec (3039 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2019